Don’t forget about George

Steph Curry is the NBA.
With few exceptions — Kobe Bryant’s retirement announcement being the most obvious — talk about the association this year has revolved around Curry and his Golden State Warriors.
That’s for good reason, given the truly eye-popping stats that have been posted by both the player and the team.
Individually, Curry is on pace to make 424 3-pointers this season. That would obliterate the record — 286 — he already holds.
Meanwhile, Golden State has opened the year with 22 consecutive wins. It has already surpassed the record for wins to begin a season, and the overall streak of 33 victories in a row set by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1971-72 season seems to be in danger. (The 72-10 record of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls could also be in real jeopardy.)
With all of that in play for Golden State heading into tonight’s game against the Pacers in Indianapolis, it makes sense that the focus is on the Warriors.
But we shouldn’t allow one great story to overshadow the other players and teams that are shining in the NBA this year.
More specifically, we shouldn’t allow it to overshadow Paul George.
The Pacers’ star small forward has made it all the way back from the broken leg he suffered during a USA Basketball scrimmage more than a year ago. The injury kept him out for most of the 2014-15 season, a year in which a healthy Indiana team would have had a real chance to compete for the Eastern Conference title.
In the six games George played late last season, he averaged 8.8 points. It was unclear what the former MVP candidate might bring to the floor this season.
What he’s brought is an MVP-caliber effort that isn’t getting the attention it deserves only because Curry has been so transcendent.
A year after his gruesome injury, George is tied for third in the league in scoring with Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant at 27.6 points per game. That’s nearly six points per game more than he posted when he finished ninth in the MVP voting in 2013-14.
He’s putting up those scoring numbers while matching the highest field-goal percentage of his career. And he’s shown huge improvement from long distance, hitting for 45 percent from 3-point range.
His 8.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game are also on pace for career bests.
And unlike some of the other top scorers in the league — Damian Lillard of Portland and Anthony Davis of New Orleans among them — George’s effort is leading his team to success. The Pacers, at 12-7, are tied for the second-best record in the Eastern Conference behind Cleveland.
Sure, Curry and the Warriors are great, and tonight’s game in the Circle City is a hot ticket. But the comeback of the Pacers’ leader has been truly spectacular.
Don’t forget about Paul George.